For the past seven years, fitness blogger Lauren Neate has been keeping a secret from her Instagram followers. The 20-year-old is typically seen on her feed with long, wavy hair tied up in a ponytail, posing in the gym. However, she recently posed a selfie of herself more or less bald that went viral. "It's actually taken me 7 years to get the balls to do this, but yes I have no hair," she wrote in the caption. She went on to explain that she found out she has alopecia when she was 13 years old and has been hiding her diagnosis ever since with hair extensions, wigs, and expertly drawn-on brows that would make Kylie Jenner jealous.

"Finding out you're losing hair at 13 years old is truly heartbreaking," Neate tells Allure about being diagnosed with the autoimmune disease. "It felt like the end of the world. I was watching all of the girls in school start to straighten their hair and play with makeup, and I felt like a total outsider." She not only kept her secret from her followers, but also almost everyone in her life. "I went through school trying to fit in with everyone else, and the thought of telling people petrified me," she added. "However, as I got older, it was difficult to lie when girls would ask me about my hair. I'd mainly try to avoid questions, but I knew I couldn't do that forever. It felt like living in a lie, and I hated that."

Now at 20, Neate says contemplated posting about her alopecia for a "really long time." She would find herself about to press the post button, only to get cold feet, repeatedly telling herself that she'd do it tomorrow. Now that tomorrow has finally come, Neate says she feels like a huge weight has been lifted off her shoulders with this major announcement — mostly because she doesn't have to hide part of herself anymore. "Alopecia is a huge part of my life," she says, "and it feels amazing to know that I've taken a big jump towards accepting myself."

Neate is quick to note that it's not a sob story, though. If anything, she shared her story to inspire others to share theirs. Neate says she decided to finally talk about her alopecia after seven years because of a responsibility she felt to the fitness community she's a part of on Instagram. "There's a constant pressure to look a certain way and conform to unrealistic beauty standards," she explains. "I always had girls telling me they wanted to look like me, and I could never accept the compliments because I wasn't being honest with them. I wanted the people who follow me to see that nobody is perfect and everyone is fighting their own battles in some shape or form."

In the future, Neate says she will definitely be posting more wig-less photos of herself on social media. "I want to change my alopecia from a deep dark secret to something that empowers me instead," she says. Also, she hopes that posting more photos of herself without hair will inspire others — not only those with alopecia — to know that they don't have to meet societal ideals regarding perfection. Although for those who do have alopecia, Neate has an important message to share. "It's so easy to let it get to you, but it's also so important to realize that you're so much more than just your hair," Neate says. "I wish at 13 years old, I'd seen a photo of a girl online taking off her wig, proving that hair isn't what makes a woman beautiful."